TV's Overwhelming Whiteness Changes How We Think

[Brewman_Jax]

http://www.alternet.org/culture/155207/t...we_think_/

From the article:

Quote:It simply isn’t true that there are no folks of color in the new HBO series “Girls,” in which young, attractive white women try to find their way in the post-9/11 Big Apple. For example, in the last minute of the very first episode, a homeless black guy talks to our quirky, spunky heroine, Hannah. “Why don’t you smile?” he says to her. “Does your heart hurt? Oh, girl, when I look at you, I just want to say Hellloooo, New York!”

Hello, New York, indeed. This isn’t the first time TV pushed millions of immigrants and people of color to the margins of one of the most diverse cities in the world. Hello, Woody Allen! Hello, “Seinfeld”! Hello, “Friends” and “Sex and the City”! If “Girls” can’t make it there, it can’t make it anywhere. Of course, the rest of TV has been overwhelmingly white, too. Ever since “Father Knows Best” and “Wagon Train,” the medium has long presented a whitewashed version of the way we live.


...

When one's demographic group is the social norm, one doesn't have to care or consider the perpectives of anyone else. That usually makes for some "oopsies" and other awkward moments. The fact that (white) writer Leslie Arfin cited the movie "Precious" in her response to critism of "Girls" lily-white cast in NYC rather proves the point. The direct quote: [writer Leslie Arfin tweeted in response to criticisms: “What really bothered me most about Precious was that there was no representation of ME.” (“Precious,” the 2009 film about a mentally and sexually abused teenager, featured a predominantly black cast.)]

Really, Leslie? You cite a movie with a subject that make most people cringe, just because it had a majority black cast?

Like most black people, I don't enjoy watching white people cram both feet down their throats with gusto out of either ignorance and/or feigned outrage or concern when talking about race, or watching white people turn pale in absolute terror of saying something wrong and, not only being thought of as a racist, but a charter member of the KKK and having the Grand Wizard on speeddial. The ignorance is the problem and it's almost as if whiteness is an addiction. First rule of problem-solving and addiction recovery: you can't correct a problem until you acknowledge that there IS a problem.

Not talking about it doesn't change anything. We have to talk about it. It's past time to start recovering, for only madness awaits us if we don't.

[azmouse]

My solution is to turn the tv off (I haven't watched the crappy shows on the main networks in years and years) and go meet real people in the real world. They're always more interesting and more diverse than any characters on tv.

[pappy]

(05-01-2012 08:15 AM)azmouse Wrote:  My solution is to turn the tv off (I haven't watched the crappy shows on the main networks in years and years) and go meet real people in the real world. They're always more interesting and more diverse than any characters on tv.

I trust you are not including Mr. Spock in your assessment!

[azmouse]

(05-01-2012 05:41 PM)pappy Wrote:  

(05-01-2012 08:15 AM)azmouse Wrote:  My solution is to turn the tv off (I haven't watched the crappy shows on the main networks in years and years) and go meet real people in the real world. They're always more interesting and more diverse than any characters on tv.

I trust you are not including Mr. Spock in your assessment!

Mr Spock is in a class by himself.

[Willinois]

Huh. I thought the only people living interesting lives are privileged singles in New York City. As a working class white person in the Midwest, those shows don't represent my reality either.

[pappy]

(05-01-2012 05:36 PM)Willinois Wrote:  Huh. I thought the only people living interesting lives are privileged singles in New York City. As a working class white person in the Midwest, those shows don't represent my reality either.

What? Laverne and Shirley didn't do it for ya?